I’ve been reflecting on the stimulating conversations I had around the subject of value and worth and barter and exchange in the build up to Christmas. Firstly, with artist/blogger Jean McKewan for her ‘Reciprocity’ zine and then, for an interview with Jane Boyer, artist/blogger and curator of the impending ‘This Me Of Mine’ exhibition in which I have work.
It’s great to have had the opportunity to revisit these issues, particularly in relation to 10×10, reminding me of the project’s continuing relevance – both in a wider, global sense as the recession continues to bite – and on a more personal level, as the narratives build and the stories attached to the exchanged items determine the project’s real worth.
I wrote about the subject of barter on my website when I first launched 10×10 in 2008:
What happens when currency fails? According to the dictionary: ‘In times of monetary crisis, barter usually replaces money as the method of exchange.’ We haven’t quite reached that point yet, but in the current economic climate, it might be as well to prepare ourselves.
Five years on and by all accounts, it seems as if the already struggling economy is set to get worse – a triple dip recession could well be on the cards. There’s a growing awareness of the impact that government cuts are having on people and the resulting increase in poverty. Certainly, it’s a prominent topic of conversations amongst artists – here, on these blogs and in the art community at large. I’m also aware of more people talking about alternative monetary systems and ways of living – it’s all largely about survival.
On the basis of respecting the value I put on the two recent conversations with Jean and Jane respectively, here are links to them:
www.a-n.co.uk/p/2540360 (scroll down to post #7 & 8 dated 7th November 2012:
An additional interview between Jane Boyer and myself was published on Art-Pie in January 2013.
I’ve also ‘re-found’ artist/blogger Alinah Azadeh through her most recent blog ‘Burning the Books‘ over the past couple of months. Alinah’s previous blogs on Artists Talking were amongst some of the first I ever followed some five years or so ago.
‘Burning the Books‘ is a truly fascinating blog and highly pertinent in terms of addressing issues such as debt and house repossession.
Alinah herself describes her blog in her introduction as ‘narrating the financial crisis at a human level.’ In terms of the gift aspect of her work, Alinah’s resonates with a lot of what I spoke about in the above interviews, especially with Jean for the article in her ‘Recipcrocity’ blog.
Such interactions and cross-referencing are great examples of the amazing community that can exist on this forum. In the past few days, there have already been some lovely exchanges of advice, support and encouragement in response to my write up about the crit, for instance.
Despite huge diversity in the practice and personality of blogger/artists using Artists Talking, the comments and messages of support demonstrate a strong common bond, created through a shared experience, understanding and empathy. That in itself, is worth a lot and deserves to be valued.
You can read more about 10×10 here:
and about Jean’s ‘Reciprocity’ blog here:
and ‘This Me of Mine’ curated by Jane Boyer here:
